Mauritanian general defends coup

The Mauritanian general who led a coup last week has defended the ousting of the country's president, saying initial international condemnation will not shake up the west African nation.

"I believe that the international community is not looking to destabilise Mauritania," Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz said. "When it has all the information, it will turn in a positive direction."

In an interview with AFP, Ould Aziz said the ousted president and other top officials "are under house arrest, for their security and the security of the country. Justice exists in Mauritania and there is also a parliament which could be called on to judge them if necessary."

The former head of the presidential guards staged a coup on Wednesday overthrowing Mauritania's first democratically elected president after he tried to sack senior military officers.

As most of the international community denounced the bloodless coup, the African Union took the step on Saturday of suspending Mauritania from the pan-African organisation until it restores constitutional government.

Ould Aziz told AFP on Sunday he would do "everything to calm down feelings and bring Mauritanians closer together".

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The 52-year-old general again insisted the coup was aimed at "avoiding a catastrophe in the country" and eliminating the regime of "an elected president who acted in an irrational manner".

Over the weekend Ould Aziz said he had warned President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi - who is also accused of corruption - before the coup of consequences if he went through with plans to revamp the military.

"I telephoned him (Abdallahi) personally to explain to him the gravity of his decree and suggest he postpone it to avoid the worst," Ould Aziz said on the Al-Jazeera television channel.

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Meanwhile, envoys from international and African organisations have converged on the Mauritanian capital to join forces in seeking a resolution to the forced overthrow of the government.

"The solution to the problem rests solely with the Mauritanians, we are going to help them to reach an agreement," the Arab League's special envoy, Ahmed Ben Hilli, told AFP.

He said he would meet heads of the delegations from the UN and the African Union in Nouakchott later on Sunday to "find a common position" on dealing with the crisis in the largely desert country.

The AU's envoy Ramtane Lamamra met on Sunday with Ould Aziz, who along with an 11-member military council is installed in the presidential palace.

"We want to prevent Mauritania from falling into a vicious cycle, where the crisis deepens and the international community is led to take measures that would be unfortunate for the lives and the future of the Mauritanian people," said Lamamra, AU commissioner for peace and security, after meeting with the coup leader.

The UN special representative for west Africa, Said Djinnit, held talks with Ould Aziz on Saturday but did not disclose the details of the conversations.

Before the meeting, Djinnit said the UN "joins other institutions in calling for the return of constitutional order" and urged that the political disputes be resolved within the democratic institutions.

Faced with international condemnation, the new military junta has promised to quickly hold "fair and transparent" elections.

The party of the ousted president, the National Pact for Democracy and Development (PNDD), said on Sunday it had been given permission to reopen its offices which were closed by police during the coup.

The PNDD is part of the group fighting to restore democracy and free their captive president.

The 2007 elections that Abdallahi won were hailed as a model of democracy for Africa, following a three-year transition after a bloodless coup in August 2005.

Mauritania had been facing a political crisis after 48 MPs walked out on the ruling party on Monday, less than two weeks after a vote of no confidence in the government prompted a cabinet reshuffle.